A makerspace, providing a fertile environment for innovation and imagination – and the tools with which students can turn visions into reality – was dedicated in Penn College’s Carl Building Technologies Center on Tuesday. The student-designed Dr. Welch Workshop memorializes Dr. Marshall Welch Jr., a local orthodontist and longtime philanthropist, who died in 2012. The Welch family, including son Marshall III, is the principal donor for the facility; George E. “Herman” Logue Jr. supported the so-called “dirty space” (the Logue Fabritorium) and Frederick T. Gilmour, faculty emeritus, made a commitment for the “clean space” (the Gilmour Tinkertorium). The ceremony spotlighted the students and faculty members who brainstormed the idea into existence, and included representative comments from Rob A. Wozniak, associate professor of architectural technology: “With the many students from various majors that will use this makerspace, it is hoped that they take the opportunity to collaborate with others. To create. To explore. To learn about the tools that they may otherwise never have been able to have access to. To try another way of doing something. To invent (and maybe even patent) something new! And, as a result, Penn College, the community and the world will all benefit … from this amazing collaborative effort.”

– Photos by Cindy Davis Meixel, writer/photo editor

Commemorating a man whose home workshop – “a place where wisdom and camaraderie were dispensed in equal measure” – was decades ahead of the “makerspace” concept

Tools glimmer in the Logue Fabritorium.

Among the creative kits awaiting students in the Gilmour Tinkertorium are sewing supplies.

Student architectural designer John A. Gondy (second from right) is joined at the special event by his parents and a brother.

Exploring the Gilmour Tinkertorium are its namesake, Frederick T. Gilmour, and his sister-in-law, Aurora, wife of the late Scott C. Gilmour, whose memorial fund helped support the space.

George E. “Herman” Logue Jr. (center) views a milling machine with family in the Logue Fabritorium.

Prior to the dedication, Thomas E. Ask, professor of industrial design, explores ideas with Nina M. Hadden, an industrial design student from Murrysville. Hadden designed the 3D-printed saw blade and tools presented by President Gilmour to Welch. Ask initiated the idea of a Makerspace at the college.

Design ideas for the space began in an architectural technology class led by Wozniak (left), and ended with combining the design ideas of (from left) Thomas P. Abernatha, ’17, of Williamsport; John A. Gondy, of Glenmoore; and Christopher D. Fox, ’17, of York. Gondy is a senior in residential construction technology and management: architectural technology concentration. (Abernatha and Fox both graduated in architectural technology.)

Marshall D. Welch III, his mother Mary and other family members enjoy the evening honoring the Welch patriarch.

Abernatha motions to the ceiling where a “cloud design” offers an inspiring, industrial look. Each of the student architectural designers, including Fox (center) and Gondy (right) shared insights from their process. Abernatha noted he’d spent time with Dr. Welch in his home workshop while painting at the family’s home, so he was delighted to hear the Makerspace would bear Welch’s name. Abernatha said Welch “was a great man” and that the workshop was always a welcoming place.

Welch shares memories of his father’s home workshop, including visits by George E. Logue Jr.’s father, George Sr. (a distinguished Williamsport Technical Institute alumnus who died in 2012). Welch, well-acquainted with the men’s innovative tendencies from his preteen says, said the merging of the Welch and Logue names to benefit the collaborative Makerspace is fitting.

In keeping with the college’s unconventional “ribbon cuttings,” the president removes a ceremonial gift from a 3D printer …

… and presents the saw-blade-and-tools design to Welch, who also serves as chair of the Penn College Foundation Board of Directors.

The Gilmours join the celebration of the students who designed the space and the donors who made it possible – “the successful businessmen and businesswomen, innovators, entrepreneurs and educators who appreciate the value of ‘degrees that work.'”

Marshall D. Welch III and family enjoy a laugh during the student designers’ talk. Also enjoying the presentation is Tom F. Gregory (on left in background), associate vice president for instruction, a key staffer in the evolution of the Makerspace.

Hadden with the 3D-printed ceremonial gift she designed

Framed blueprints were presented to Welch, Gilmour and Logue.

Give ’em an inch, they’ll make a milestone: A ruler from the college’s past, given to the college by Thomas M. and Sarah E. Gehret, stands ready to inspire today’s tinkerers. It originally belonged to Thomas’s father, the late Joseph B. Gehret, a 1938 WTI grad who received the ruler while he was a student.

Donors are acknowledged for their foresight and generosity.

Comments – One Comment

Congratulations, John Gondy on this amazing achievement; so proud of you!